John Medeski's Mad Skillet sizzlin' up songs at Brighton Music Hall

By Ed Symkus, Correspondent

Wednesday

Nov 7, 2018 at 5:30 PMNov 7, 2018 at 5:30 PM

Keyboard ace John Medeski hasn’t stopped playing for something like the past 50 of his 53 years. He has a recollection of sitting next to his dad – an amateur pianist who was always a hit at parties as he launched into “Tea for Two” or “Up a Lazy River” – when he was a toddler, doing his best to play along, especially when dad got around to “In the Mood.”

“That’s how I got introduced to the piano,” said Medeski by phone from Mexico City, where he was enjoying a little rare downtime. He’s recently been playing and recording with his most well-known outfit, Medeski Martin & Wood, about which a documentary is being made; he’s finishing up an all-Sun Ra duo recording with cornetist Kirk Knuffke; and he’s getting ready to hit the road with his newest band, John Medeski’s Mad Skillet, to promote their new self-titled album. The funky, jazzy, New Orleans-y group, featuring Medeski on lots of keyboards, guitarist Will Bernard, sousaphonist Kirk Joseph, and drummer Terence Higgins, comes to Brighton Music Hall on Nov. 13.

Medeski started with classical lessons when he was 5, learned the popular middle-of-the-road music by the likes of Peter Nero and Ferrante & Teicher that his parents had at home, and got turned on to jazz by the older brother of a friend when he was 10.

“He had a big stereo and played a bunch of stuff for me,” said Medeski. “One of the records was by Oscar Peterson. When I heard that, I said, ‘Holy sh**! You’ve gotta be kidding me!' So, I started listening to jazz really intensely, and started studying with a great teacher, Lee Shaw, who had actually studied with Oscar.”

Within a few years, Medeski, who grew up in Florida, was playing in a jazz trio, and he switched from acoustic piano to an electric Fender Rhodes. He was still playing classical music, but a relocation to Boston to study at New England Conservatory, where he intended to be a classical major, saw him soon move into the Third Stream department, where he was mentored by jazz pianist Ran Blake. In short order, as Medesky’s tastes in music kept reaching out in new directions, he was introduced to the Hammond B3 organ, which became his keyboard of choice.

“The B3 covers such a broad spectrum in terms of the different music it’s been a part of,” he said excitedly. “I love a lot of instruments, but the B3, like the piano, is complete, all on its own. It’s like a big band, it’s like an orchestra. It’s got the low end, the high end, and the mids. You use both hands and your feet and you can do a lot of things at once. It’s one of the great instruments of all time.”

Medeski was, just as he is now, playing incessantly, leading bands, co-leading bands, sitting in with others. He achieved commercial success with Medeski Martin & Wood, and even took to producing records for other artists. One of those production jobs led, over almost two decades, to the creation of Mad Skillet.

“In a way, the band evolved since 1999, when I produced the Dirty Dozen Brass Band record ‘Buck Jump,’ which was the first time I worked with Kirk and Terence, who were in that band. Ever since then I had it in my head that I wanted to do some project with those guys as the rhythm section. Then, jumping forward to about 10 years ago, I played on Will’s record ‘Blue Plate Special,’ and Will and I started these yearly New Orleans Jazz Festival late night shows. Different people would play with us in bands there over the years, and one time we used Kirk. I thought, ‘Ding! This could be great!’ The following year it was with Kirk and Terence. Finally, since we had so much fun playing, I decided this is a band worth recording.”

The resulting album, being released this week, features original compositions from different members, as well as a cover of Sun Ra’s “The Golden Lady.” Moods go up and down, but the flavor of New Orleans is always present. And the musicians sound like they were made to play with each other.

“Will is a super-versatile guitar player who can play any style of guitar,” said Medeski. “Danceable, New Orleans-inspired groove music is something both of us love, and is something that Terence and Kirk ARE. So, we’ve been developing this chemistry together.”

They’re also great at improvising together.

“One of the things that’s going to be amazing about going on the road with this band is that we’re going to be able to explore more,” explained Medeski. “Two of the tunes on the record were created right in the studio. So, given the time together playing live, there will be a lot of improvisation.”